Sherwood Forest. The ancient oaks stretch to the sky. All is calm. A lone deer wanders through the trees. Suddenly, an arrow streaks through the trees and thuds into its side. The deer falls. Much, the miller's son, leaps out and approaches his fresh kill.

"Much!" calls a voice, piercing the quiet. "Much! What do you think you're doing?!"

"What does the King care?" says Much. "The King won't miss it, will he? Got plenty, he has. I'll tell him I was hungry."

"And he'll say it's better to be hungry and have both your hands."

"Both my hands?"

"And then he'll lop one off to show you."

Much is about to say something, but is hushed by Robin. Suddenly, horsemen are upon them. Soldiers. Robin and Much attempt to flee, but are relentlessly hunted down. They stare up into the face of the leader of the soldiers. "Do you know who I am?" demands the leader.

"Yes," says Robin. "My Lord of Gisbourne."

"Good," says Gisbourne. "What is your name, serf?"

"I'm not a serf," says Robin with a hint of defiance. "I'm a free man."

The soldiers chain them and take them to the dungeons of Nottingham Castle. There they meet several other prisoners and eventually plot and execute a daring escape.

But their new lives have only begun. Declared outlaws, they take to Sherwood Forest, unsure of what the future holds. Most advocate running to survive. But the Lord of the Trees has other plans...

The Hooded Man shall come to the Forest, there to meet with Herne the Hunter -- to be his Son and do his bidding...

"UP!" The voice of a hooded man thunders in the quiet of Sherwood. It is directed at five sleeping figures. "UP!!" The figures leap to their feet. "You were sleeping. You slept too long. We all have."

"Loxley?" calls one of the men. "Is that you, Loxley?"

"No. Not Loxley. Robin. Of Sherwood. Herne's Son."

"Herne's Son?" shouts one of the men. "Have you been bewitched?"

"No, not bewitched," says the one known as Robin of Sherwood. "Awakened." He approaches one the men. "Run? Sleep all day and travel all night? Do as you're told and they'll leave you alone? Is this the spirit of England?! Nobody ran at Hastings."

"No, they stood and died by the thousands!"

"But at least they died fighting! At least they died for England!"

"That's an old battle to bring up," says one of the men. "It was a long time ago."

"And what's happened to the English since then? I mean where are they? Chained in the stinking dark ... The people bled dry ... Whole villages destroyed so that princes can hunt unhindered. No voice! No justice! NO ENGLAND!! ... Well, it's time we fight back."

Welcome to Sherwood Wars!

Thanks for playing! Rules are in the Sign-Up Thread. Commands are lynch and unlynch. PMs have been sent. If you did not receive a PM, you are a regular villager.

It is now Night 1. Let's put a deadline of 12 PM Monday for this first Night phase.

The village of Wickham lay within the demesne of the Sheriff of Nottingham, on the border of Sherwood Forest. Life was hard in the village. The villagers toiled from sunup to sundown in the fields owned by the Sheriff. Taxes and fines were slowly crushing them. Anger and bitter resentment were strong among the villagers. The villagers had the desire to destroy their oppressors, but lacked any leadership.

To make matters worse, the hated Normans had struck last night:

Spoiler:

pittsports87, a regular villager

was found dangling from a makeshift gallows at the edge of the village come sunrise.

The villagers knew the time had come to do something. One way or another, there would be a lynching of their own today...